ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH

The village boasts a must-see church: the work of architect Richard England, who created a contemporary building inspired by the girna (round stone shelters used to store tools) in this rustic, picturesque setting. Like Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel deep in the rural Vosges, the church and its builder were the subject of much criticism for many years. Today, well accepted by Manikata's inhabitants and frequently admired by travellers, it has become a source of regional pride and a cultural-tourist attraction for Golden Bay bathers. Dominating the village, with its classic or banally modern dwellings, its theatrical bathtub shape is surprising, yet at the same time familiar: low, rounded volumes in ochre cob, a purity of line that echoes rural simplicity. This holy place, with its discreet majesty, encourages communion and serenity, and would seem almost austere were it not for the loving floral intent of the bougainvillea bouquets that surround it.